For one day, the grown-ups took over the library at Virginia A. Boone Highland Oaks Elementary School for what they called a "phone-in."
"To express my outrage over the proposed cuts to public education in Florida," one mom was saying into her cellphone, speaking to a legislator's staffer Thursday.
At every table, almost every chair, there was a mom or dad saying something similar into a phone, bending someone's ear In Tallahassee. Nearly 200 parents showed up during the all-day event, organized in just a couple of days.
"Because we're upset," says Mindi Ratner, one of those moms who put the event together. "We want our kids to have the best education possible, but they never provide enough funding for the schools to be run correctly."
The parents called the governor, they e-mailed, they wrote letters. The idea was to present a unified front of outrage.
"I hate to see that our education system, especially in Florida, is suffering, but it's getting worse and I don't understand how we expect our young people to grow up into educated, responsible adults without us paying for it," said Karen Morton, another organizer of the phone effort.
If Governor Rick Scott gets his way, education spending in Florida would be sliced by 10 percent. That translates into a $215 million hit to the Miami-Dade school district. The more likely scenario is a cut in the range of $110 million, which in itself would likely mean layoffs and the elimination of some arts and music programs, according to school district officials.
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When you add this year's expected cuts to the $500 million slashed from the district over the past four years, you can see why so many parents are frustrated.
"We're doing our part, " said Morton. She points out this is an "A" school, it has great students, teachers, and very involved parents, "but no one in Tallahassee thinks it's important to actually give us any money."
Some parents wondered how Governor Scott's vision of creating more jobs could possibly mesh with huge education cuts, reasoning that an educated workforce is a crucial factor for companies thinking of either relocating to or expanding into Florida.
The parents in the mobile phone brigade know they're fighting an uphill battle, but they feel, at least, like they put up a fight for their own kids' futures. Give them an "A" for effort.
